I'm all out-fitted for reloading so that would help mitigate some of the costs of 357 sig. I think the 36 is a bit thinner but the 33 is smaller in length & height. I'd like to get my hands on a 30s but i think the grip may be a bit wide for iwb carry, which i use about 25% of the time.

For the most part i carry when i'm out on hikes, backpacking, fishing etc. Maybe once a week or so i carry in town but it's usually to test a new carry method or if i'm commuting on my bike late at night, or going to the theater (i admit i have an irrational fear of the theater and need my security blanket ).

I do carry in Alaska a couple times a year, but i usually borrow my little brother in law's G20 but on occasion i'm stuck with my piddly 45. Honestly i have no idea which cartridge would be best against bigger dangerous game. Neither seem great, but either are better than throwing rocks i guess.

For backpacking as the title says? Or a do-all, as you said in post #1?..

"For the most part i carry when i'm out on hikes, backpacking, fishing etc. Maybe once a week or so i carry in town but it's usually to test a new carry method or if i'm commuting on my bike late at night, or going to the theater (i admit i have an irrational fear of the theater and need my security blanket )."

I guess it depends on what you want to do with the gun while you're out on extended backpacking trips.

For backpacking as the title says? Or a do-all, as you said in post #1?..

"For the most part i carry when i'm out on hikes, backpacking, fishing etc. Maybe once a week or so i carry in town but it's usually to test a new carry method or if i'm commuting on my bike late at night, or going to the theater (i admit i have an irrational fear of the theater and need my security blanket )."

I guess it depends on what you want to do with the gun while you're out on extended backpacking trips.

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It will be an "all 'rounder" that is used on weekend hikes & backpack trips more than anything else. When hiking it goes in a front pack. When around town IWB...

Ha! I totally misread your first post, I thought you were asking which of the two you should carry while hiking/backpacking, not which you should purchase.

The Block30s is almost identical in size to the 19/23, and the 36 is slightly slimmer. I believe that the 33 uses the same frame as the 30, so it will be marginally larger than the 36. Like I said earlier, I prefer to carry a 5" 1911 IWB, and it hides very well. I carried a 23 for a while, and it hides just as readily. 357Sig ammo is more expensive than .45, and can be somewhat difficult to locate. You mentioned earlier that you reload, so ammo availability shouldn't be an issue.

Personally, I'd just get a 9mm, be it a full-on target pistol (of which there are more of than either of those calibers) for popping squirrels on the trail etc., to a mid-size "do-all" gun, to a belly gun.
A .357 Sig is essentially a hot loaded 9mm Luger.

FWIW, I'm in Alaska this summer guiding fishing trips. I'm doing some hiking while I'm up here and bought a S&W 500 with a 4" barrel and a Diamond D Leather chest holster. I've worn it exactly once; it's too big and heavy for comfortable hiking.

When I get home to Oregon in the fall I'll be selling the .500 and getting a Glock 21 with a .460 Rowland conversion, which gives you mid-level .44 Magnum power in a 13-round handgun. The .460 Rowland is also available for the Glock 30 if you're interested for more discrete carry while you're on the trail. I carry a 9mm as my EDC otherwise.

Interesting Modeler. I was just up in Cordova last month. I shot my little brother's 500 SW and i decided i had finally found my caliber match. I was glad when the cylinder was spent and when he offered to load me up another one i politely declined

His G20 was downright soft shooting and i carried that on some hikes & fishing trips.

As an aside, i have a cabin on Prince of Wales Island near Hollis. Love that place.

I considered the G29 in 10mm but it's a bit bigger than the 33 and frankly, i tend to leave my gun at home too often as it is... I can borrow a cannon for my trips to Alaska.

Interesting Modeler. I was just up in Cordova last month. I shot my little brother's 500 SW and i decided i had finally found my caliber match. I was glad when the cylinder was spent and when he offered to load me up another one i politely declined

His G20 was downright soft shooting and i carried that on some hikes & fishing trips.

As an aside, i have a cabin on Prince of Wales Island near Hollis. Love that place.

I considered the G29 in 10mm but it's a bit bigger than the 33 and frankly, i tend to leave my gun at home too often as it is... I can borrow a cannon for my trips to Alaska.

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Nice. I'm in Ketchikan, just across the Strait. No one told me there were only black bears on Revy, turns out I could have gotten by with the .460

Nice. I'm in Ketchikan, just across the Strait. No one told me there were only black bears on Revy, turns out I could have gotten by with the .460

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I've co-existed on the Harris river with Blackies just fine up there but i hear that black bears that have to survive in Brown bear country are significantly more aggressive than our mild mannered bruins down here... Makes sense that they would be tougher. Last September i had about a 20ft encounter with a nice big black bear up there on the Island though and he beat a hasty retreat as soon as i said hello.

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